Koos Eckard Rod Designs: February 2016

Thursday, February 11, 2016

The Pink Flamingo

I have always admired some of the pink rods that have surfaced on the net and wondered what I would do should I get the chance to do a pink rod.

Well last year I received a TXL-F in the mail and the brief was simple......Make it Pink.

Quick Specs:

Blank: TXL-F 2710-4B painted pink with a hint of pearl
Thread: Soft Pink/Violet Nylon to blend in with blank
Guides: TiCh Holographic Stripper and TiCh snakes and Tip Top
Grip: Palmgrip with Light Gunsmoke Anodized sliding band and hood
Tube: Same pink as rod with Cherry Blossom Wrap in Silver and Light Gunsmoke Engraved endcaps of my own design.

I treated the rod and tube with a matte clear as per my Heron spec, just to take the flash down a bit and turn it into a satin finish. This eliminated those fingerprints you always see on a gloss surface on a rod tube.

A few snaps of the rod tube....

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My name is Koos Eckard and I am based in Pretoria, South Africa. I am a custom rod builder and I have been building rods for the past 10 years. I use the best, time-proven blanks and components.

More about Myself

I was born in 1979 in a small town in the Northern Cape called Olifantshoek. Most of my childhood was spent in the rural countryside. I have been based in Pretoria since 1996. I am a sign maker by trade and I am married with two lovely sons.

The fishing bug bit me early as I caught my first fish at the age of three years. In the beginning I used conventional bait and spinning rods but I was always fascinated by fly fishing as a concept. About 12 years ago I did start fly fishing and I have never returned to more conventional methods of angling.

Once I started fly fishing I became fascinated by split cane fly rods and their construction. I realized however that it would be easier to start constructing more conventional rods on carbon fibre blanks. A friend got me started and the first rods I built were for deep-sea fish. Using the skills thus acquired I started building fly rods.

I believe I now have the knowledge and the expertise and I intend to start constructing split cane rods from scratch before the year is out.

Rod building

A rod is only as good as the blanks and components you use and I use brands that have established a track record for quality and durability and come from companies that are renowned for their after sale service and for backing up their warranties. They include Fuji, Sage, Calstar, Scott, Orvis, American Tackle, Pac Bay, Aftco, Struble, Snakebrand, Composite Developments etc.

I have built rods for every form of angling - jigging and dropshot rods, surf rods, trolling rods and rods that can subdue deep sea quarry like tuna and marlin. In fly rods I have built ultra-light line rods like the Sage 000 and rods that will take everything a Giant Trevally can dish out.

Contact Info

Should you require further information please send me an e-mail and I will get back to you.

kooseckard@gmail.com

Out Of Shop

Thursday, February 11, 2016

The Pink Flamingo